April Kindness Postcard Challenge at Vera Lane Studio

Woohoo! It's April and that means a brand new challenge in the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group and this month I get to host it. I decided on postcards (3x5 inches or 4x6 inches) and the theme of Kindness because we all could use a little more (OK...a lottle) of that right now. It could be kindness to yourself, to others, or to animals...anywhere your muse takes you. I chose the first and last from the list above, featuring the sweetie from the Joyful digi set. She is feeding the birds which is kind to them but also brings her peace and warm feelings so that's kind to herself as well. There are so many Vera Lane Studio images and combinations that would fit this theme

I coloured Joy and her bird friends with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Each image was then fussy cut leaving a narrow white border and again a second time once matted with black cardstock.

I kept the background light and simple, choosing to add Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide to the top using drywall mesh as a stencil. The bottom was done in the same way using Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxides for colour. A small double heart stamp and some script stamping were added to the sky section using Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink. To ground Joy and her buddies, a length of leafy washi was adhered to the bottom edge of the postcard. The birdseed was created with tiny holographic star sequins. Love how they catch the light and change colours!

The saying was printed onto white cardstock, cut into sections, and matted with black. The same black was used to mat the postcard, creating a border around it.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope that you are all staying safe and are practicing kindness every chance you get. We would love to have you join the Kindness Challenge on the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group. Pop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop to check out all of the fabulous images. There's sure to be a bunch that will inspire your Kindness Postcard.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Dear Winter...~ inspired by a Vera Lane Studio image

Hi everyone! For my first DT project today, I decided to create a postcard featuring some designer paper and one of the sweet It's Fall, Y'all images by Vera Lane Studio. I love how bundled up she is and her expression seemed to suit the letter I imagined her writing. This postcard could easily be attached to a card base to use it in another way.

I coloured Acorngirl (that's her name!) with a mix of Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils, fussy cutting her to leave a narrow white border. She was then matted with black cardstock and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. Foam tape was used to pop her up and create a shadow. Glossy Accents was applied to her eyes to give them some shine.

The "sky" area was a rectangle of snowflake printed paper. To create the snowy ground, a strip of embossed white cardstock left from a previous project was adhered to black cardstock, and then to the base of the green background. The letter was printed onto white cardstock, edged with Coffee Archival Ink, and faux stitched. Once adhered to the background, it was outlined with black pen and skinny washi tape was adhered to opposite corners. Two sizes of snowflakes were punched from white cardstock, adhere around the page, and topped with Icicle Stickles to make them sparkle. Three little enamel dots and a doodled border finished the background before it was adhered to a black mat.

Thanks for joining Acorngirl and me today. I hope her letter doesn't make Winter mad. Trust me, you don't want to annoy Winter! LOL For more inspiration and to find some must-have images, stop by the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop and the VLS Facebook group. There is so much fabulous choice and ideas galore!

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Postcard Swap at Vera Lane Studio

Hi everyone! I am squeaking under the wire on this, There is a postcard swap in the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group which closes on Saturday, September 28. I have lost track of dates this month and suddenly realized that I had better get my rear in gear.  The theme for the swap is Which Vera Lane Studio image are you? which is a super fun idea. I combined several  Vera Lane Studio images to put this together. I used the girl and one cat from the Girl and Cat with Hats set, the sitting cat from Kadee and Kat, the coffee cup from the Coffee Cups set, and the paintbrush from Max Makes Art. I could have just as easily called this "These are a few of my favourite things :)

The images were coloured with Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils, fussy cut, and matted with black. Black epoxy dots were added to the coffee cup's eyes. The background was a clean up sheet from a gel print using acrylic paint. Manganese Blue Archival Ink was applied to a VLV numbers stamp and Cobalt Blue to an Ellen Hutson Bokeh Stamp to add more pattern to the background. Ranger Texture Paste was scraped through TCW Tiny Circles stencil to add a little dimension and brightness to the more solid areas.

A strip of green dotty washi tape was adhered to white cardstock to keep the see through dots white. It was adhered across the bottom of the card to give the crew a place to stand...or sit as the case may be. The wording was printed onto white cardstock, matted with black. A simple border was doodled with black pen and the postcard was matted with black to frame it. Two green puffy hearts were added to the top right corner of the card to bring some of that colour from the bottom to the top of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today. The whole gang appreciates that. If you are quick, you can still join in the postcard swap. It's always fun to trade art with others, especially when they feature Vera Lane Studio images.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

Summer Postcard for Vera Lane Studio swap

Hi everyone! For the July swap in the Vera Lane Studio Facebook group, Carole has decided we will trade postcards with a summer theme. I have never traded postcards before so I'm extra excited to play along this time. The postcards can either be 4x6 inches (which I chose) or 3.5x5 inches and must feature a Vera Lane Studio image.

I decided to have The Sailor and her sailboat star on my postcard. I love her sweet face and little sailor suit. I coloured them with a mix of Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. Both images were fussy cut leaving my usual white border, matted with black cardstock, and fussy cut again leaving a narrow black border. Some tiny TH number rub-ons were added to the one sail of the boat.

The background began as a larger gel print created with shades of blue and green acrylic paints. Additional texture was added with a number stamp from Studio Light, and a dotty stamp from Indigo Blu using Manganese Blue Archival Ink. A grid stamp by Studio Light was added with Jet Black Archival Ink. Tiny Xs were scattered in a few clusters using a black pen and an Alexandra Renke stencil. To create the wave pattern at the bottom of the card, a scrap of scallop printed designer paper was fussy cut and, once glued in place, was outlined with black pen. White Gesso was applied with an empty tape roll to make the double circles. Inktense pencil activated and applied with a waterbrush helped the circles stand out.

The punny wording was printed onto white cardstock, cut apart, and matted with black cardstock. The edges of the card were inked with Manganese Blue Archival Ink, and edged with Black Big Brush Pen. A simple doodled border was added as well as a small chevron rub-on was placed in the upper right corner.

Thanks for popping by to visit with The Sailor and me. We appreciate that.  Be sure to stop by the VLS Facebook group to see the other swap postcards as they are posted in the album there. We would love it if you joined in. Check out the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop as well. There are wonderful new sets and collage sheets added all the time! Oh, the possibilities!

Life is good; so is art.

Bonnie